Fly-swatter.



K. D. SAULPAW.

FLY SWATTER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28, 1914.

1 164,875, 1 Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

' 20 fig, 8440444101 alibi/WW8 -the flexible element will bend transversely at UNITED sra'r s PATENT oEErcE.

KARL n. sA LPAw, OF CALHOUN, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR 0E ONE-HALF T0 GEORGE L.

SAULPAW, OF CALHOUN, TENNESSEE.

; FLY-SWATTER.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, KARL D. SAULPAW, citizen of the United States, residing at Calhoun, in the county of McMinn and State of Tennessee, have invented-certain new and useful Improvements in Fly- Swatters, of

lated body portion and a support or handle therefor, and wherein a, flexible element will be interposed between the bodyportionand the handle so that, in use, the said flexible element will form a hinge between the body portion and the handle.

The invention has as a further object to provide a device of this character wherein the adjacent extremity of the handle so that, in use, the reticulate body portion will be moved asan entirety and will thus be relieved of the strain incident to the. flexing thereof which would otherwise occur were i the body portion directly connected to the handle. s

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of this'character which will besimple in construction and wherein the flexible element interposed between the.

' handle and the body portion may be readily connected to the body portion and to the handle. And the invention has as a still further object to provide a device of this character wherein the flexible element interposed between the handle and the body portion will be of sufiicient rigidity to effectually support the flexible body portion transversely, and 'will also possess a degree of flexiblity so'as to readily bend or flex transversel whenthe swatter is moved inthe y practical use of the device.

Withthese and other objects in View, my invention will be more fully described, illustratedin the accompanying drawings and thenspecifically pointed out-in the claims which are attached to and form a part of this application.

.In the accompanymg drawings :Figure l is a perspective v1ew of my 1mproved device, the handle thereof being shown partly Specification of Letters Patent.

broken away, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View thereof, particularly illustrating the construction of the flexible element interposed between the body portion ofv the device and the. handle, Fig. 3 is atop plan View of a modified form of the invention, Fig. 4L is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of such modified form, and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary bottom plan View showing the inner extremitv of the handle with the attaching plate in position'thereon, the head dengaged by thehandle not being illustrate I Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

Application filed July 28, 1914. Serial No. 853,657,

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in'the following description and indicated in all of the views of the drawingby the same reference characters.

Devices of this character as constructed, heretofore, have. usually included a body portion of flexible wire cloth to whichis .directly connected at one edge thereof a rigid handle, in some instances, the handle being provided with a transversely disposed rigid head arranged to embrace the adjacent end edge of the wire cloth. The result of this construction has beenthat, when the handle is moved in an arc, in the practical use of the device, the wire cloth is caused to flex or bend transversely immediately adjacent the handle or adjacent the rigid head referred to, and has as a result with but slight usage, become broken at suchpoints, the continued flexing of the wire cloth causing. the longitudinally extending. wires thereof to break immediately adjacent the head or'the handle to thus Very soon impair theefiiciency of the device and thereafter to result finwits entire disuse. Furthermore, when the longi hanced.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral.10 designates the handle or'support of my improved device which may be of any desired size or configuration and which may be constructed of any suitable material. The handle or' support 10 is preferably slotted at one end to receive the head or flexible element indicated as a whole at 11. V

' since'bythis construction, a saving in mate- "rialis effected, while the appearance of the I "device is enhanced. Interposed between the "sections 12 and 13 adjacent the inner ex- "tremity of the head, is a stifl'eningplate 15.

The stiffening plate- 15 is preferably formed from apiece'of relatively thin resilient sheet I metaland is of such shape' as to conform to the shape of the head, the said plate being 25.

best illustrated inFig. 1 of the drawings.

- The stiffening plate 15 is of such rigidity as to effectually reinforce thehead 11 adjacent the inner extremity of the handle. Preferably the sections 12 and 13 are connected by a line of stitching 16 which extends transversely through. the said sections imme- .diately adjacent the edges ofthe plate 15, 1f t e said line of stitching thereby serving to maintain the plate 15 in position,

"Connecting the head 11 with the handle .10 are a plurality of longitudinally spaced which extend transversely through the ad rivets or other suitable fastening means 17,

jacent extremity ofthe handle and'through thehead, the said rivets being each overturned at one end to engage a metallic reinforcing strip 18. Where a wooden handle is ,employed, theiuse of the metallic reinforcing strip 18 is preferable and said strip is arranged to extend longitudinally of the handle 10 at the inner extremity thereof and l coincident with the slot formed in said handle to receive the head 11. Assho-wn in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the reinforcing strip still it will be readily understood that any 18 is flat and is disposed to seat against the adjacent flat face of the handle, the said strip being preferably enlarged at one end to bear laterally over the adjacent face of the handle at the inner end thereof.

'It is now desired to bring attention to the fact that while I have indicated above that the head 11 is preferably formed of leather,

other suitable material may be readily employed, such as heavv fabric, it being intended that the said material shall possess sufficient rigidity to operatively support the bodyportion or fo'raminous element-of the swatter and at the same time, be possessed of sufiicient flexibility so as to form' a'hinge between said body portion and the handle of the device, and I therefore, do not w1sh to limit myself in this regard.

Connected with the head 11 is the reticulate body portion 19, the said body portion being preferably formed from a piece of suitable wire fabric, one endedge of which is preferably overlapped, asshown, and disposed between the overlapping edges of the head 11 at the outer extremity'thereof, and is secured thereto, by a plurality of lines of stitching 20. Midway the side edges thereof, the body portion 19 is reinforced by spaced longitudinally extending'spines 21 between which the longitudinally extendingwires of the fabric are omitted. Each of the said spines 21 is preferablv formed by weaving a plurality of the longitudinally extending wires of thefabric together; By v this construction, the body portion19 is reinforced longitudinally and any tendency of the body portion to break transversely in termediate its ends is overcome. I

Arranged uponthe outer end edge of the body portion 19, which is turned back upon 7 itself, as illustrated, and extending transverselycthereof, is a binding 22 of fabric or other suitable material, the said binding being secured to the body portion preferably by stitching 23. The body portion 19 is thus prevented from fraying at its free end, and in overlapping the ends ofthe bo'dy portion, a more secure connection is had between the said body portion and thehead 11 and the binding 22. 7

As best shown in Fig; 2 of the drawing,

the inner edge of thebody portion 19 ter+ minates in spaced relation to theadjacent extremity of the handle 10 and the head 11 being formed of flexible material, it will be clear that the said head will readily bend thepath of an arc, in the practical use of the device, to strike with the body portion 19. It will also be clear that the head 11 will thus form a hinge between the handle 10 and transverselywhen the handle 10 is moved in" the body portion 19 of such character as to take up all transverse flexing movement un der such circumstances, between the handle 10 and the body portion 19 sothatthe'bodY portion '19 will move practically as an entirety. Any tendency of the body portion 19 to break transversely at its juncture with the head 11 will be overcome and the durability of the device will thus be greatly enhanced. 7 Furthermore, owing to the presence of the flexible element or head 11, the body portion.

19 may be-more'readily moved in the pr acti cal use of the deviceto strike successfully.

' In Figs. 3and 4 of the drawingsflghave illustrated a modified form of the invention wherein I provide a metallic head 24:, the

said head being preferably formed from a piece of suitable sheet metal bentuponitself and secured within'the slotted end of the handle 10 by suitable rivets or other fastening means 25. In this form'of the invention, the head24 is preferably of a like configuration to that illustrated in the preferred form of the invention, and in securing the head 24 to the handle 10, the reinforcing strip 18 may be omitted, if desired. Preferably, I interpose a filling block 26, which maybe formed of leather or any other suitable material, between the overlapping portions ofthe head 24 adjacent the inner extremity thereof and secured between the overlapping portions of the head adjacent its outer extremity, is a flexible element or hinge 27. The hinge 27 is preferably formed from suitable pieces of leather as in the preferred form of the invention which are connected with the head 2% in any suitable manner as by rivets 28. Arranged between the overlapping portions of the hinge 27, adjacent its outer extremity, is the body portion 19, the said body portion 19 being connected at one end edge thereof, with the hinge 27, preferably by stitching. The form of the invention shown in this modification is otherwise constructed in accordance with the preferred form of the invention and a further description thereof will not, therefore, be given. However, it will be observed that the hinge 27 will provide a flexible connection between the body portion 19 and the handle 10 and that the metallic head 24 will effectually support said hinge and is so arranged as to not come in contact with the body portion 19 to cause it to'crease transversely when flexed and thus become broken.

It will therefore be seen that I provide a very simple and efficient construction for the purpose set forth wherein the foraminous body portion of the device is operatively connected with the handle in such manner that the said body portion will not be caused to crease transverselv when flexed. It will further be seen that the flexible element interposed between the bodv portion and the handle is of such character, that while being adapted to bend freely, in the practical use of the device, Will, nevertheless, effectually support the body portion to provide for the quick and accurate movement thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A device of the character described including a support providing a handle, a body portion, and a. yieldable connection between the body portion and the handle, said connection including superposed layers of flexible material secured together.

2. A device of the character described including a handle, a body portion, a yieldable connection between the body portion and the handle, and a stiffener for said yieldable connection, said vieldable connection including superposed layers of flexible material secured together.

3. A device of the character described including a handle, a bodv portion. and a connection of relatively limp material interposed between one edge of the body portion and the handle.

4. A device of the character described including a handle, a body portion, a connection of relatively limp material between the handle and the body portion, and a stiffening plate arranged to coact with said connection.

5. A device of the character described including a handle, a head carried by the handle, and a body portion carried by said head, the head being formed of liable ma- I terial and providing a yieldable connection between one edge of the bodv portion and the handle.

6. A device of the character described including a handle, a head carried by the handle and formed of superposed layers of relatively limp material, and a body portion carried by the head. I

7. A device of the character described including a handle, a head carried by the handle and formed of superposed layers of flexible material, a stiffening plate interposed between the layers of material of the head, and a body portion carried by the head.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

W. F. MARTIN, T. B. SAULPAW.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O. 

